194 



The Fehn Loveb's Companion 



Grape Ferns 

 Botrychium 



Rootstock very short, erect with clus- 

 tered fleshy roots; the base of the 

 sheathed stalk containing the bud for 

 the next year's frond. Fertile frond 

 one to three pinnate, the contracted 

 divisions bearing a double row of ses- 

 sile, naked, globular sporangia, opening 

 transverselj' into two valves. Sterile 

 segment of the frond ternately or pin- 

 natelj^ divided or compound. Veins free. 

 Spores copious, sulphur yellow. (The 

 name in Greek means a cluster of 

 grapes, alluding to the grape-like clus- 

 ters of the sporangia.) 



(1) ]\IoONwoRT. Botrychium Lunaria 



Very fleshj^ three to ten inches high, 

 sterile segment subsessile, borne near 

 the middle of the plant, oblong, simple 

 pinnate with three to eight pairs of 

 lunate or fan-shaped divisions, obtusely 

 crenate, the veins repeatedly forking; 

 fertile segment panicled, two to 

 three pinnate. 



iloonwort 

 Botrychium Lunaria 



